218 cook's voyage to june, 



On the 25th, at one o'clock in the afternoon, being 

 in latitude 59° 12', longitude 168° 35', the wind 

 freshening from the same quarter, a thick fog suc- 

 ceeded ; and this unfortunately just at the time we 

 expected to see Olutorskoi Noss ; which, if Muller 

 places it right in latitude 59° 30', and in longitude 

 167° S&, could only have then been twelve leagues 

 from us ; at which distance land of a moderate height 

 might easily have been seen. But if the same error 

 in longitude prevails here, which we have hitherto 

 invariably found, it would have been much nearer 

 us, even before the fog came on ; and as we saw no 

 appearance of land at that time, it must either have 

 been very low, or there must be some mistake of 

 latitude in Muller's account. We tried soundings, 

 but had no ground with one hundred and sixty fa- 

 thoms of line. 



The weather still thickening, and preventing a 

 nearer approach to the land, at five we steered E. by 

 N., which is somewhat more easterly than the Rus- 

 sian charts lay down the trending of the coast from 

 Olutorskoi Noss. The next day we had a fresh gale 

 from the S. W., which lasted till the 27th at noon, 

 when the fogs clearing away, we stood to the north- 

 ward, in order to make the land. The latitude at 

 noon, by observation, was 59° 49', longitude 1J5° 

 43'. Notwithstanding we saw shags in the fore- 

 noon, which are supposed never to go far from land, 

 yet there was no appearance of it this day ; but on 

 the 28th, at six in the morning, we got sight of it 

 to the N. W. The coast shows itself in hills of a 

 moderate height ; but inland, others are seen to rise 

 considerably. We could observe no wood, and the 

 snow lying upon them in patches, gave the whole a 

 very barren appearance. At nine, we were about ten 



flying for some time, with loud screams and evident marks of great 

 terror, drops its dung ; which its pursuer immediately darts at, and 

 catches before it falls into the sea. 





